Hello everyone, New member here and I thought it would be worth asking for any tips on a problem I had last week turkey hunting. My buddy and I were hunting his ranch where he was few big toms, and quite a few hens. Sunday we went out and set up before morning to a favorite area these turkeys like to hang out at. The problem is they roost across the creek from his property, and that land is state property. This particular morning we got a big ol tom to gobble to us, and he was on the other side of the creek (of course). He followed the shore line and kept gobbling to my friends yelps (we had a hen decoy out and a jake little ways away from her) and we circled behind us. The tom then started walking back the way he came and thats when a hen got his attention, and of course he went for the hen on his side of the creek. Was there anything I could have done to coax this tom to cross over the creek? My buddies dad actually shot a 9 1/2 in beard tom on opening day about 25 yards from where we set up. Any tips would help, I am looking to get one of these toms this weekend, we saw few more big toms, so the spot has potential! Thanks.

When the hen starts calling,call over her,you will hear her calling,if everytime she starts calling you call over her,it will twist her up and she will come over there to confront the unruley hen she thinks is over there and with her will come the tom! Give it a shot,put out a hen decoy in the open across the creek,so she can see it,and call over her ,not too loudly,sort of like cutting her off,interupt her calling with yours,hens have a pecking order also,and if she is a boss hen ,...well it will get her pissed off and she will drag that tom across the river when she comes to confront the hen doing all that chattering over there!When she starts getting hyper in her calling you get hyper,but stay at the same level of loudness,just longer calling ,clucks and cutting series and throw some yelps in there,just to make it shut her up,be on top of her a soon as she starts, cut her off! Hope this helps you out and good luck!

You just got to keep tryin' man ... I've seen Tom's take flight at a full sprint and come across the river to decoys, and I've seen Tom's get hung up behind a trickle of water running down a hill after a heavy overnight rainfall.

Eventually, the hen's will be unreceptive and the Tom's will be more repsonsive.

Sometimes, an afternoon hunt can be better than a morning hunt. After he breeds that ole girl, he'll get hungry ... then thristy ... then horny all over again. Plus ... if you can get him to the rivers edge when he flys up, you might be able to get him to fly down on your side the next morning.

Other thoughts (but make sure you're hunting that property ALONE for saftey issues):Try a motion decoy, or a jake decoy with the hen decoy - I don't personally use decoys, but it's a trick that could work.Carry a dried turkey wing with you, use it to lightly scrape the ground and brush around you while calling.You can also use that wing to make flapping noises, 5 or 6 hard wing beats is common while feeding birds are stretching.Just adds some realism ...

About the wing beats! I have just used a stick to scratch the ground to make it sound like a hen feeding,and my cap to sound like a flydown or wing stretching,use soft content purrs when doing this, hens are pretty vocal when in a food source,and purr alot! They also cluck fast and excitedly when another bird tries to move in where they are feeding,so alttle upset chatter with a few wing beats would also add something too the set up! If you have hen decoys out! I usually use 3 hens and a B-Mobile for decoys!